In telecommunication installations, equipment is often mounted in equipment racks. These racks permit greater density and organization of installation for this equipment. To simplify the provision of power to the equipment mounted within a rack, power distribution panels may be mounted in the same rack. These power distribution panels have one or more power input terminals to which higher capacity power supply cables may be attached. Within the panels is circuitry for distributing the current from the power input terminals to one or more power output terminals. From the output terminals, electrical cables may be led to the telecommunications equipment mounted within the rack. The circuits within the power distribution panel may also include circuit protection devices such as circuit breakers or fuses.
To maximize the amount of rack space that can be devoted to telecommunications equipment, it is desirable to make the power distribution panels as compact as possible. The compact nature of the panels may make it difficult to access the interior of a panel, for instance, for repairs or routine maintenance. However, removal of a panel from a rack may result in the equipment within that rack being depowered during the repair or maintenance. Removing the equipment and any circuits the equipment may support from service costs the service provider in terms of lost revenue.
Many of the power distribution panels include two or more discrete power distribution circuits within a single panel. Often, only one of these circuits requires repair or maintenance, but both circuits must be taken offline when the panel is removed from the rack. Improvements to power distribution panels are desirable which allow individual circuits within a power distribution panel to be accessed for repair or maintenance without removing all circuits of the panel from service.